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Germany
History NSDAP dominate state from 1933, in cooperation with powerful military faction as part of the Regierung der Nationalen Konzentration (Government of National Concentration) after 1944. The removal of many of the more fanatical NSDAP and SS old guard from positions of power in July 1944 allowed Germany to issue the Prague Manifesto of November 1944, guaranteeing the survival of a Russian state purged of Jewish-Bolshevik influence. This in turn prompted the 'Beria Coup' against Stalin, and the Lavrenti Beria regime's subsequent surrender to Germany. Many career army officers blamed the ferocity with which the Soviets fought on the Eastern Front on the attitude of the civilian Nazi government to Great Russians and other Eastern peoples, the so-called Negerstandpunkt. On the Southern Front, Rommel's forces had moved rapidly through the Caucuses and West Turkestan due to in large part to their relatively good relations with the local population. Collaboration had been facilitated through the establishment of puppet provisional governments for the Georgians and other Caucasian peoples under various princelings and tribal chieftains. By contrast the harsh treatment of Ukrainians, Belorussians and Russians only served to prolong the conflict. Even anti-Soviet nationalist factions were alienated, and no real collaboration was offered. In April 1943 in a speech to his high command, Hitler made clear that he would not support the creation of an anti-Bolshevik Russian government-in-waiting. Despite their opposition to the way the war was being prosecuted, the disgruntled officers remained loyal, and limited their activities to pressuring sympathetic members of the civilian authorities to restrain the party fanatics: men like Alfred Rosenberg (Eastern Ministry) and Albert Forster (Gauleiter of West Prussia). It was in fact the most radical section of the SS that moved against the government. On July 20, a faction of the SS, in league with elements of the armed forces, attempted to assassinate Hitler and seize power, in order to negotiate an immediate peace treaty with Stalin. The coup plot was not at first believed to go especially high in the SS or Party hierarchy, though the paranoia of the time meant many were under suspicion. The internal investigation led by the head of the Kriminalpolizei Arthur Nebe soon revealed that the Reichsfuehrer-SS himself, Heinrich Himmler was behind the entire putsch. Himmler was arrested while trying to escape to Sweden and committed suicide in captivity. Those ultimately executed as a result of the so-called 'Himmler-Putsch' included: * SS Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler: leader of the 'Himmler Faction' and overall coup leader. * SS General Arthur Greiser: Gauleiter of Wartheland, an ally of Himmler and rival of Albert Forster. * SS Colonel Rudolf Lange: originally believed to be the primary driving force behind the coup. * Air Force Field Marshall Erhard Milch: ally of Himmler within the Luftwaffe and rival of Hermann Goering. * Army Field Marshall Fedor von Bock: ally of Himmler within the army. * Erich Koch: Reichskommissar for Ukraine, an ally of Himmler and rival of Alfred Rosenberg. * Army General Ludwig Beck: Chief of Staff of the Army 1935-1938, a plotter thereafter. * Army General Henning von Tresckow: Member of the Schwarze Kapelle (Black Orchestra). * Army General Carl Heinrich von Stulpnagel: Member of the Schwarze Kapelle. Commander in France. * Army General Friedrich Olbricht: Member of the Schwarze Kapelle. Deputy to Friedrich Fromm in the Home Army. * Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg: Member of the Schwarze Kapelle. Olbricht's deputy. * Army General Bodewin Keitel: brother of Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, rival of Friedrich Fromm. * Air Force Major Harro Schulze-Boysen: Member of the Rote Kapelle (Red Orchestra). * Navy Admiral Wilhelm Canaris: Head of the Abwehr Intelligence Service. * Hans von Herwarth: Cousin, by marriage, of Colonel von Stauffenberg. * Eugen Bolz: Leader of Centre Party plotters. * Carl Friedrich Goerdeler: Leader of DNVP plotters. * Johannes Popitz: Prussian finance minister, ally of Goerdeler and his intermediary with Himmler. * Ulrich von Hassell: diplomat, former Ambassador to Italy. * Friedrich Werner von der Schulenberg: diplomat, forer Ambassador to Russia. * Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden: member of the House of Bernadotte, grandson to King Oscar II of Sweden-Norway * SS Colonel Emil Maurice: Mischling, founder member of the SS. * Army General Gotthard Heinrici: married to a Mischling woman, rival of Wilhelm Keitel. * Army Colonel Walter Hollaender: Highly decorated Mischling army officer. * Navy Vice-Admiral Bernhard Rogge: Highly decorated Mischling naval officer.. The military now wielded effective power. General Friedrich Fromm, who had discovered and eliminated the coup plotters within the army, had taken control of Berlin at the head of the Home Army and in doing so had taken control of the entire Reich. Initially he allowed Hermann Goering to become interim chief of both the NSDAP and the Reich. Goering had thought he too would be eliminated, due to the involvement of his subordinate Milch with the plot. He was instead kept under virtual house arrest (in his Carinhall residence near Berlin and then in Italy) while nominally holding the position of head of state and head of government. He was eventually replaced as Reichskanzler by the preferred nominee of the armed forces, the more maleable Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg. Friedrich Fromm replaced Wilhelm Keitel, whose brother was implicated in the plot, as head of the armed forces, as well as becoming War Minister and acting Reich President. Erwin Rommel, the victor of the North African, Levantine and Caucasian Campaigns, was placed in charge of the overall war effort. Arthur Nebe took over Himmler's job as national police chief, while Wilhelm Stuckart replaced him as Interior Minister and Karl Hanke became Reichsfuehrer-SS. The relationship between the military, Party and state established in the aftermath of the Putsch, has endured and come to define German politics. The Head of State (Reichsprasidant) has generally been a retired military figure (with Rommel replacing Fromm) while the Head of Government (Reichskanzler) has been drawn from the ranks of the NSDAP. Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels, though not involved in the Putsch, were removed from their posts due to their supposed inclination to make peace with the Soviets in order to attack the then-neutral Anglo-Saxon powers of Great Britain and the United States of America. Ribbentrop's ideas on European confederation were however retained, mainly through the continuing influence of his collaborators such as Cecil von Renthe-Fink (the meliorative Plenipotentiary of Denmark), Werner Daitz (architect of European Economic Union), Karl Mergerle (chief propagandist for the European Crusade against Bolshevism), and Franz Six (architect of European intelligence and police cooperation). Martin Bormann was similarly removed from his position as head of the Party Chancellery, due to his opposition to negotiations with a post-Soviet Russia. Generally however the coup was conservative, and most senior NSDAP figures retained their posts. A younger generation of technocratic Nazi intellectuals was also rapidly elevated to senior positions in the state administration, men like Herbert Backe (Darre's deputy in the Agriculture Ministry), Werner Best (a rival of Himmler in the RSHA), Josef Buhler (Frank's deputy in the Generalgouvernement), Otto Ohlendorf (a former Himmler protege in the RSHA, but later extremely influential in the Economics Ministry), Martin Franz Luther and Franz Rademacher (both rivals of Ribbentrop, working in the Foreign Ministry). The main change in the prosecution of the war was the propaganda offensive. The condition of the population of the conquered east improved a little, while life became considerably easier for those eastern European political figures who enjoyed a decent following and were willing to collaborate with the Germans. The new regime promised a new policy of German Fuhrung (leadership) would replace crude Herrschaft (mastery). The role of Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia led by Andrey Vlasov was enhanced, giving the impression of a German-Slav alliance against "Zydokomuna" ("Judeo-Bolsehvism"). Stepan Bandera, who had been imprisoned by the Gestapo for his declaration of an Independent Ukraine in June 1941, was released to form a Ukrainian National Committee. The Mongolia-based Russian Fascist Party leader Konstantin Rodzaevsky was approached to form a government-in-waiting for Russia. The marginal Czech fascist leader, Rudolf Radola Gajda was pressed into resurrecting the old Czech Legions. Baltic, Caucasian and Turkestani leaders received similar treatment. A new German regime willing to make concessions, was contrasted with a Soviet regime which remained committed to continuing the war at any cost. As Stalin would not accept any terms Germany would offer, and Germany would not tolerate a Russian government which included Stalin, a peace faction around Lavrenti Beria decided to remove this obstacle. Stalin and his closest supporters in the Soviet government were murdered and Beria declared the formation of a Government of National Salvation to replace the Communist Party dictatorship. Despite the loss of much of European Russia and the entire Pacific seaboard, the Beria regime was still in control of a large portion of the USSR, and expected to negotiate with Germany and Japan as a Great Power, albeit a defeated one. However Germany was not interested in the continued existence of a strong Russian state, regardless of its political complexion. The use of Germany's new 'Atomic' weapons on several cities of Central Asia brought negotiations to an end, and the Beria government made their unconditional surrender to the Axis. Russian intransigence was combined with the disillusionment of the German career officers now steering Germany's policy in bringing about the 'Atomic Solution'. Continued conventional fighting was viewed as far too brutal and costly in terms of German lives: at the time the weapons were used it had been suggested that a further million German soldiers would die if Russia had to be conquered and occupied in the normal way. The combined efforts of Wernher von Braun and the 'Uranverein' ('Uranium Club', officially the Uranprojekt) were seen at the time and continued to be seen as having saved many German lives. Pockets of resistance continued, especially against German forces. Japanese occupation was not viewed with the same horror as German occupation by most Soviet citizens, and so Japanese forces made far more rapid progress than had been expected. Rather than the Yenisei River forming the border between German and Japanese zones of occupation, Japanese forces flooded across Siberia as far west as the Ob and Yenesei Rivers. After the war, Germany was the undisputed master of continental Europe. The Germanic nations of northern Europe (Belgium and the Netherlands, Denmark and Iceland, Sweden and Norway) were corralled into a Greater Germanic Reich, while the territories of Germany in Eastern Europe were reorganised as the Greater German Reich. Government The government of Germany under the leadership of the NSDAP from 1933. The ruling Government of National Concentration (Regierung der Nationalen Konzentration) was dominated by members of the NSDAP, briefly in coalition with the DNVP and supplemented, after 1944, by representatives of the armed forces and by technocrats drawn from the civil service. During the period 1934 to 1944, the government of Germany was entirely in the hands of the leadership of the NSDAP. The cabinet had little power, barely meeting after 1937. Instead, special departments of the NSDAP took over functions previously delegated to civil servants. This changed somewhat after 1944, with the emergency wartime government restoring the power of the civil service and of cabinet government, even resurrecting the defunct formula of 'National Concentration' to describe the new form of administration. The Government was led by the Fuehrer from 1934, which combined the previously separate functions of Head of State (Prasident) and Head of Government (Kanzler). After 1944, though the Fuehrer remained the de jure leader of Germany, the positions of Reichsprasident and Reichskanzler were restored as distinct and important positions. The Presidency was taken by the commander of the Home or Reserve Army, Friedrich Fromm, who also became Head of the Armed Forces and War Minister, due to the dismissal and arrest of many of his superiors due to their involvement in the 'Himmler Putsch'. Alfred Rosenberg, who had led the NSDAP in the aftermath of the 'Munich-Putsch', was appointed Chancellor. This was due both to his perceived lack of personal ambition and his willingness to negotiate with some form of Russian government and bring the war to an end. Many senior figures were removed from power in 1944. Those found to be involved with the 'Himmler Putsch' were obviously arrested and executed immediately. Others who were perceived to have been sympathetic to Himmler, to have been too intransigent in their dealings with Russia, to have been sympathetic toward Bolshevism, or to have been simply incompetent or corrupt, were also targeted. Hermann Goering, Josef Goebbels, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Martin Bormann, Hans Frank and Julius Streicher were all purged, though their ultimate fates varied. Goering was even briefly made Fuehrer, though this was a figurehead position. He was subsequently granted a number of powerless sinecures. Many SS leaders were also removed, with the three main branches of the SS; the Allgemeine-SS (General or Police SS), Waffen-SS (Military SS) and Germanische-SS (Germanic or European SS) substantially re-organised by Arthur Nebe. However outside of the organisation of SS and the political nature of the war in the East, 1944 was characterised more by continuity than by change. Arguably the early 1960s saw a far greater change in the composition of the Government. The resignation of Rosenberg from the Chancellorship saw a brief power struggle between various factions within the party-state hierarchy. The main leaders around whom factions formed were Baldur von Schirach, the Education Minister and first Reichsjugendfuehrer (Head of the Hitlerjugend), and Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, former Chancellor of Austria and ruler of the occupied Netherlands. The attractive and idealistic von Schirach was considered popular, often making direct and effective appeals to the German people, though lacking in experience and competence. He advocated the mitigation of some of the more vicious aspects of racial policy in the East, and was regarded as interested in punishing, or at least investigating, the possibility of wartime excesses. Seyss-Inquart, a close collaborator of Rosenberg was considered closest in temperament to the Fuehrer and therefore enjoyed the support of most of the old guard. Ultimately the support of the Reichsprasident Erwin Rommel and of Arthur Nebe for von Schirach was decisive. Seyss-Inquart's supporters were quickly purged: Martin Franz Luther, Wilhelm Stuckart, Josef Buehler, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner all suffered this fate. Nebe would go on to assume the position of Interior Minister. The handover of the Chancellorship from von Schirach to Albert Speer was less eventful. An able administrator, Speer failed fully to grasp the nettle of economic reforms urged by a large part of the party-state hierarchy, organised around Otto Ohlendorf. Ohlendorf's ideas were however more thoroughly implemented by Speer's successor, Artur Axmann. Axmann oversaw a major generational shift, with young war veterans, often SS men and often from fairly humble backgrounds, taking some of the highest offices in the state-party hierarchy, as venerable old leaders began to die off in large numbers. Notable new faces in the cabinet included Armin Mohler (born 1920, Propaganda, advisor to Franz Strauss, Gauleiter of Munich-Upper Bavaria), Paul Luth (born 1921, Education), Paul Schafer (born 1921, Church Affairs), Heinrich Boere (born 1921, of German-Dutch origin, Colonies), Emil Schlee (born 1922, the moderate Gauleiter of Schleswig-Holstein, Transport), Franz Schonhuber (born 1923, Presidential Chancellery), Anton Geiser (born 1924 in Croatia, Chief of the OKH) and [Busse (born 1929, Deputy Chief of the OKH). The highly-decorated Hans-Ulrich Rudel (born 1916) became War Minister, turning over command of the Luftwaffe to Walter von Krupinski (born 1920). Rudel however died in office just a few years later. Kurt Waldheim (born 1918), who had served in army intelligence during the war, became Reichsprasident, replacing the monumental, nonagenarian Erwin Rommel. Perhaps most significantly in the long-term, Bolko Hoffman (born 1937, son of Gaulieter Albert Hoffman) took over responsibility for the Reich Chancellery in 1979, the first cabinet member to have been too young to serve in the war. The most venerable remaining cabinet member was Rudolf Hess, still honourary Stellvertreter des Fuehrers after half a century in the role, though his practical responsibilities had been handed to the Party Chancellery, headed by his son, Wolf Hess (born 1937). Rudolf Hess represents the last of the Alten Kampfer (NSDAP members who joined between 1919 and 1930). Even the Septemberlings (who joined 1930-1933) and the March Violets (who joined 1933-1939) are becoming rare. Composition of the Government of National Concentration President: Paul von Hindenburg (no party, 1925-1934), Adolf Hitler (NSDAP, 1934-1944), Hermann Goering (NSDAP, 1944), Friedrich Fromm (no party, 1944-1962), Erwin Rommel (no party, 1962-1979), Kurt Waldheim (NSDAP, from 1979) Chancellor: Adolf Hitler (NSDAP, 1933-1944), Hermann Goering (NSDAP, 1944), Alfred Rosenberg (NSDAP, 1944-1962), Baldur von Schirach (NSDAP, 1962-1974), Albert Speer (NSDAP, 1974-1981), Artur Axmann (NSDAP, from 1981) Vice-Chancellor: Franz von Papen (Zentrum, 1933-1934), Rudolf Hess (NSDAP, 1934-1941 and from 1942) Foreign Minister: Konstantin von Neurath (no party, 1933-1938), Joachim von Ribbentrop (NSDAP, 1938-1944), Martin Franz Luther (NSDAP, 1944-1962), Franz Rademacher (NSDAP, 1962-1974), Kurt Waldheim (NSDAP, 1974-1979), Ernst Achenbach (NSDAP, from 1979) Interior Minister: Wilhelm Frick (NSDAP,1933-1943), Heinrich Himmler (NSDAP, 1943-1944), Wilhelm Stuckart (NSDAP, 1944-1962), Hans Globke (NSDAP, 1962-1964), Arthur Nebe (NSDAP, 1964-1974), Alois Brunner (NSDAP, from 1977) Justice Minister: Franz Gurtner (DNVP, 1933-1941), Franz Schlegalberger (NSDAP, 1941-1942), Otto Georg Thierack (NSDAP, 1942-1963), Otto Rasch (NSDAP, 1963-1966), Franz Walter Stahlecker (NSDAP, 1966-1975), Werner Best (NSDAP, 1975-1978), Hans Joachim von Merkatz (no party, 1978-1980), Ewald Bucher (NSDAP, from 1980) Chief of National Police: Heinrich Himmler (NSDAP, 1934-1944), Arthur Nebe (NSDAP, 1944-1964), Heinrich Muller (NSDAP, 1964-1970), Friedrich Panzinger (NSDAP, 1970-1973), Reinhard Gehlen (no party, 1971-1976), Bernd Freiherr Freytag von Loringhoven (no party, from 1976) Chief of the SS: Heinrich Himmler (NSDAP, 1929-1944), Karl Hanke (NSDAP, 1944-1978) War Minister: Werner von Blomberg (no party, 1933-1938), Wilhelm Keitel (no party, 1938-1944), Friedrich Fromm (no party, 1944-1950), Albert Kesselring (no party, 1950-1955), Karl Donitz (NSDAP, 1955-1963), Ferdinand Schorner (no party, 1963-1967), Adolf Heusinger (no party, 1967-1980), Hans Krebs (no party, 1980-1981), Hans-Ulrich Rudel (no party, 1981-1982), Wilhelm Mohnke (NSDAP, from 1982) Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces: Werner von Blomberg (no party, 1933-1938), Wilhelm Keitel (no party, 1938-1944), Friedrich Fromm (no party, 1944-1948), Erwin Rommel (no party, 1948-1954), Ferdinand Schorner (no party, 1954-1956), Wilhelm Mohnke (NSDAP, 1956-1974), Alexander Ferdinand von Preussen (NSDAP, 1974-1976), Adolf von Thadden (NSDAP, 1976-1982), Anton Geiser (NSDAP, from 1982) Chief of the Navy: Erich Raeder (no party, 1928-1943), Karl Donitz (NSDAP, 1943-1955), Hans-Georg von Friedeburg (no party, 1955-1960), Otto Kranzbuhler (NSDAP, 1960-1972), Gunter Luther (no party, from 1972) Aviation Minister: Hermann Goering (NSDAP, 1933-1944), Robert Ritter von Greim (NSDAP, 1944-1968), Hans Kammler (NSDAP, 1968-1979), Adolf Galland (no party, 1979-1981), Gerhard Michalski (NSDAP, from 1981) Finance Minister: Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (no party, 1933-1963), Paul Pleiger (NSDAP, 1963-1974), Hanns-Martin Schleyer (NSDAP, from 1974) Economics Minister: Alfred Hugenberg (no party, formerly DNVP, 1933), Kurt Schmitt (NSDAP, 1933-1934), Hjalmar Schacht (no party, 1934-1937), Hermann Goering (NSDAP, 1937-1938), Walther Funk (NSDAP, 1938-1944), Albert Speer (NSDAP, 1944-1949), Ludwig Erhard (no party, 1949-1966), Otto Ohlendorf (NSDAP, from 1966) Head of the Reichsbank: Hjalmar Schacht (no party, 1933-1938), Walther Funk (NSDAP, 1938-1944), Hjalmar Schacht (no party, 1944-1963), Karl Wolff (NSDAP, 1963-1970), Arthur Liebenschel (NSDAP, 1970-1975), Wilhelm Staglich (NSDAP, from 1975) Food and Agriculture Minister: Alfred Hugenberg (no party, formerly DNVP, 1933), Richard Walther Darre (NSDAP, 1933-1942), Herbert Backe (NSDAP, 1942-1971), Edmund Veesenmeyer (NSDAP, 1971-1976), Ernst Gunther Schenck (NSDAP, 1976-1979), Thies Christophersen (NSDAP, from 1979) Labour and Social Affairs Minister: Franz Seldte (NSDAP, formerly DNVP, 1933-1958), Robert Ley (NSDAP, 1958-1963), Fritz Sauckel (NSDAP, 1963-1969), Waldemar Kraft (NSDAP, 1969-1975), Gustav Wagner (NSDAP, 1975-1978), Otto Ernst Remer (NSDAP, 1978-1982), Kurt Franz (NSDAP, from 1982) Postal Minister: Paul von Eltz-Rubenach (no party, 1933-1937), Wilhelm Ohnesorge (NSDAP, 1937-1957), Richard Stucklen (NSDAP, from 1957) Transport Minister: Paul von Eltz-Rubenach (no party, 1933-1937), Julius Dorpmuller (no party, 1937-1946), Hans-Christoph Seebohm (no party, 1946-1967), Ewald Bucher (NSDAP, 1967-1977), Emil Schlee (NSDAP, from 1977) Propaganda and Public Enlightenment Minister: Josef Goebbels (NSDAP, 1933-1944), Hans Fritzsche (NSDAP, 1944), Werner Naumann (NSDAP, 1944-1979), Gunter d'Alquen (NSDAP, 1979-1982), Armin Mohler (NSDAP, from 1982) Education and Science Minister: Bernard Rust (NSDAP, 1933-1953), Baldur von Schirach (NSDAP, 1953-1963), Artur Axmann (NSDAP, 1963-1981), Werner Hasse (NSDAP, 1981-1982), Gunther Schwagermann (NSDAP, from 1982) Armaments and Production Minister: Fritz Todt (NSDAP, 1940-1944), Albert Speer (NSDAP, 1944-1974), Otto Ambros (no party, 1974-1976), Friedrich Thielen (NSDAP, from 1976) Colonial Minister: Alfred Rosenberg (NSDAP, 1941-1944), Alfred Meyer (NSDAP, 1944-1961), Albert Forster (NSDAP, 1961-1982), Heinrich Boere (NSDAP, from 1982) Race Minister: Richard Walther Darre (NSDAP, 1933-1938), Gunther Pancke (NSDAP, 1938-1940), Otto Hoffman (NSDAP, 1940-1943), Richard Hildebrandt (NSDAP, 1943-1944) Family Minister: Josef Meisinger (NSDAP, 1936-1938), Erich Jacob (NSDAP, 1938-1973), Carl-Heinz Rodenberg (NSDAP, 1973-1979) Church Affairs Minister: Hanns Kerrl (NSDAP, 1935-1941), Hermann Muhs (NSDAP, 1941-1962), Eberhard Achteberg (NSDAP, 1962-1981), Paul Schafer (NSDAP, from 1981) Head of the Presidential Chancellery: Otto Meissner (no party, 1933-1953), Philipp Bouhler (NSDAP, 1953-1974), Albert Bormann (NSDAP, 1974-1975), Franz Schonhuber (NSDAP, from 1975) Head of the Reich Chancellery: Hanns Lammers (NSDAP, formerly DNVP, 1933-1955), Hans Globke (NSDAP, 1955-1967), Kurt Georg Kiesinger (NSDAP, 1967-1979), Bolko Hoffman (NSDAP, from 1979) Head of the Party Chancellery: Rudolf Hesse (NSDAP, 1933-1941), Martin Bormann (NSDAP, 1941-1944), Gerhard Klopfer (NSDAP, 1944-1975), Alfred Dregger (NSDAP, 1975-1982), Wolf Hess (NSDAP, from 1982) Minister of State for the Government-General: Hans Frank (NSDAP, 1939-1944), Albert Forster (NSDAP, 1944-1961, position abolished) Minister of State for Bohemia and Moravia: Karl Hermann Frank (NSDAP, 1943-1973), Konrad Henlein (NSDAP, formerly SdP, 1973-1975), Reich Protector for Bohemia and Moravia: Konstantin von Neurath (no party, 1939-1953), Arthur Seyss-Inquart (NSDAP, 1953-1964), Walter Becher (NSDAP, from 1964) Reich Protector for Georgia: Karl Franz von Preussen (no party, 1966-1975), Herbert Backe (NSDAP, 1975), Reich Protector for Tajikistan: Fritz Grobba (NSDAP, 1957-1966), Bruno Beger (NSDAP, from 1966) Territories of the Greater German Reich [[Grossdeutschland|'Grossdeutschland']] Includes the Altreich (Germany's borders of 1938), Austria (known as Ostmark), the Sudetenland and other formerly Czech territory, the bulk of the former Poland (the former Prussian lands of Western Poland), formerly French Alsace and Moselle (mainly attached to Gau Westmark), several formerly Swiss cantons (known as Ostschweiz) and small territories formerly belonging to Yugoslavia, Belgium, Lithuania as well as Liechtenstein and Luxembourg virtually in their entirety. Capital: Welthauptstadt Germania (formerly Berlin). Population: c.100,000,000. Reichskommissariat Baltenland Established 1941 as the Reichskommissariat Ostland, changed to Baltenland in 1945, at the instigation of Kanzler Rosenberg. Originally comprising territories of the almost all of the former states of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Soviet Belarus and parts of Soviet Russia. Generalbezirk Peipusland (formerly Estonia) and a northern part of Gebietskommissariat Wolmar (northern Latvia) handed to Finland after the war. Mixed population of Germanic and Baltic (Latvian, Lithuanian, Belarussian) peoples. Baltenland is the Reichkommissariat with the largest percentage of Germanic people, around 40% of the total population. The Reichskommissariat is scheduled to be fully integrated into the Reich by 1985. Reichskommissar: Hinrich Lohse, Rosenberg's original nominee (to 1965) and subsequently Heinrich Boere, until his promotion to the cabinet. Capital: Holmgard (formerly Nowgorod). Population: c.10,000,000. Rosenberg had long favoured the name "Baltenland", however he was opposed by Otto Brautigam, who alleged that Rosenberg (himself a Baltic German), was influenced by his "Baltic friends" in forwarding this initiative, in which a "Baltic Reichskommissariat" with the addition of Belarus would be formed, "and with this the White Ruthenians would also be regarded as Balts". After Rosenberg became Reichskanzler in 1944, the name Baltenland was finally adopted. Ostland/Baltenland originally comprised the former states of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Soviet Belarus. Estonia was handed from Germany to Finland at the close of the war, as compensation for the loss of Aland to Sweden. The borders of Estonia by this time included those parts of the far north of the former Latvia historically inhabited by the Finnic Livs, and territory of the former Russia as far east as the Volkhov River, historically inhabited by the Finnic Ingrians. Known as Generalbezirk Estland under Germany, Estonia was renamed Peipsimaa or Peipusland. Latvia was renamed Generalbezirk Lettland and subsequently Dunaland, and dividied into administrative regions corresponding to long-established cultural zones: Libau (Kurzeme or Courland), Mitau (Zemgale or Semigallia), Dunaberg (Latgale or Latgallia) and Livland (Vidzeme or Livonia). Livland is home to the capital of Riga. Part of northern Vizeme was lost to Estonia, with the remainder of the former Wolmar district absorbed by Livland. A small amount of territory from Courland was also lost. By way of compensation, the eastern border of Dunaland was extended east to encompass Pleskau (the former Pskov Oblast of Soviet Russia). A Latvian Selbstverwaltung (Self-Administration or Self-Government) was established under Oskars Dankers and veterans of the Latvian armed forces and of Gustavs Celmins' Perkonkrusts (Donnerkreuz or Thunder Cross) movement, ultimately coming under the control of Viktors Arajs and Konrad Kalejs in the 1960s. Lithuania was renamed Generalbezirk Lituaen, subsequently Lettowen and Telscheland and divided in the same way as Latvia into four regions: Wilnaland (Dzukija), Kauenland (Suvalkija), Poneweschland (Aukstaitija), and Schaulenland (Samogitia). While Wilnaland and Poneweschland both gained territory from the former Soviet Belarus (which itself gained territory from Russia, including much of Smolensk, Tver, Bryansk and Novgorod), the region of 'Little Lithuania' or 'Prussian Lithuania' was immediately annexed to Germany, as was Kauenland (bar the city of Kauen itself) some time later. An independent Lithuania was declared but was not recognised by Germany, which established a Selbstverwaltung under its control. Many of those involved in the Selbstverwaltung had belonged to the pro-German Gelezinis Vilkas/Eiserne Wolf movement or the Lietuvos Aktyvistu Frontas/Litauische Aktivisten Front, which had resisted the Soviet Occupation. The Selbstverwaltung was led by General Petras Kubiliunas, Colonel Kazys Skirpa and General Stasys Rastikis. Belarus was renamed Generalbezirk Weissruthenien and later simply Weissland. The White Ruthenian District was originally composed of eight regions. These were Baranowitsche (Baranovichy), Baltenstadt (Minsk), Wilejka (Vilekya), Lida (Hrodna), Glubokoye (Vitebsk), Nowogrodek (Navahrudak), Slonim (Slutsk) and Ganzewitchi (Hantsavichy). It was subsequently enlarged with the addition of eight new regions: Borissow (Barysaw), Sluzk (Slutzk), Homel (Gomel), Mahiljou (Mogilev), Waragerstadt (Smolensk), Twer (Tver), Brjansk (Bryansk) and Holmgard (Novgorod). Belostok was lost to Germany as the new Reichsgau Memel-Narew, with Schwedischeberg (Waukawysk) as its capital. Some historically Belarussian territory was also lost to the Reichskommissariat Ukraine (later Gotenland) and to the former Latvia. A puppet White Ruthenian Central Rada (Weissruthenischer Zentralrat, later Weisslander Zentralrat)'' established in 1943 staffed with local collaborators such as Radaslau Astrouski, Ivan Yermachenka and Basil Artishenko. Originally slated for rapid and extensive colonisation by German settlers, wartime exigencies and the shifting of colonial efforts to the Generalgouvernment (the former Poland), has delayed the Germanisation of the region. Instead the Belarussian people have been encouraged to distance themselves from their own allegiance to Slavic Russia, and see themselves, along with Latvians and Lithuanians, as Balts. Use of traditional Baltic names from the region such as Baltkrievija and Baltarusija has been encouraged. In official German-language documentation, the term Weissland, with any reference to Russia, Rus or Ruthenia removed, is preferred. The region is governed by a Commissar-General. This position has been held successively by Wilhelm Kube (to 1953), Curt von Gottberg (to 1963) and ultimately by Hans Lipschis, a German of Lithuanian origin. Originally slated for rapid and extensive colonisation by German settlers, wartime exigencies and the shifting of colonial efforts to the Generalgouvernment (the former Poland) delayed immediate Germanisation of Baltenland. However Germanisation, through settlement and assimilation, has proceeded faster here than anywhere else in the colonies. The native population has been encouraged to see themselves as part of a Baltic race, intermediate between Aryan Germans and Asiatic Slavs, though naturally allied with the former. A strict racial hierarchy is enforced in the Reichskommissariat. Russians, their culture and language, have been virtually eliminated from public life. Lithuanians and White Ruthenes little better, while Latvians, regarded as possessing some Aryan characteristics due to historical Scandinavian and German settlement, form something of an elite strata of the natives. Puppet Self-Administrations exist for all the native groups, though the Latvian Self-Government, led by Konrad Kelejs is the most important. The German administration was headed successively by Hinrich Lohse (1941-1962), Heinrich Boere (1962-1982) and Friedrich Franz von Mecklenburg-Schwerin (from 1982). Boere went on to become Colonial Minister in the Government of National Concentration. Immediately below the level of Reichskommissar were the Commissars-General for Dunaland: Otto-Heinrich Drechsler (to 1970), Fritz Bracht (credited with the rapid Germanisation of Poland, 1970-1974 and from 1976), Bernd Freiherr Freytag von Loringhoven (deputy to Reinhard Gehlen, 1974-1976); for Telscheland, Adrian von Renteln (to 1976) and Adrian Freiherr von Folkersam (from 1976); and for Weissland: Wilhelm Kube (to 1953), Curt von Gottberg (to 1971) and Hans Lipschis (from 1971). '''Subdivisions' * Dunaland # Libau: from 1941, capital Libau (Kurzeme/Courland region) # Mitau: from 1941, capital Mitau (Zemgale/Semigallia region) # Livland: from 1941, capital Riga (Vidzeme/Livonia region) # Dunaberg: from 1941, capital Dunaberg (Lategale/Latgallia region) # Pleskau: from 1947, capital Pleskau (Pskov/Pleskov region) # Wolmar: 1941-1947, capital Wenden (Vidzeme/Livonia region) * Telscheland # Wilnaland: from 1941, capital Wilna (Dzukija region) # Poneweschland: from 1941, capital Ponewesch (Aukstaitija region) # Schaulenland: from 1941, capital Schaulen (Samogitia region) # Kauenland: 1941-1947, capital Kauen (Suvalkija region) * Weissland # Baranowitsche # Baltenstadt # Wilejka # Lida # Glubokoye # Nowogrodek # Slonim # Ganzewitchi # Sluzk # Borissow # Homel # Mahiljou # Waragerstadt # Twer # Brjansk # Holmgard Reichskommissariat Gotenland Established 1941 as the Reichskommisariat Ukraine. Includes the core of the Ukrainian Principle Commission Self-Administration. Mixed population of Germans, Ukrainians, Cossacks and others. Reichskommissar: Alfred Frauenfeld, an able administrator regarded as sympathetic to the natives under his control (to 1977), and thereafter Theodor Oberlander. The first Reichskommissar (from 1941 to 1944), Erich Koch, was implicated in the Himmler-Putsch and executed. Capital: Lemberg (formerly Lwow). Population: c.15,000,000. The replacement of Erich Koch with Alfred Frauenfeld marked an almost total reversal in the policy of the government of Germany toward local collaborationist forces. Cadres of the Ukrainian Nationalists were incorporated into the administration. The Ukrainian Nationalist movement was extremely divided against itself and weakened by regular changes in German policy toward them, with waves of repressions alternating with periods of toleration by the occupiers. After 1944 however a more consistent approach was adopted. The main leaders of the various competing Nationalist factions were released from imprisonment and forced to cooperate in the Ukrainian Principle Commission (formerly the Ukrainian National Committee), based in Lemberg. Volodymyr Kubijovyc was Chief of the fractious Commission. Stepan Bandera, the most ardent anti-Russian and pro-German, was forced to work alongside his rivals Andriy Melnyk, Tara Bulba Borovets and Wilhelm Franz von Habsburg-Lothringen (also known as Vasyl Vyshyvanyi). The former Hetman, Pavlo Skoropadskyi, refused to take part in the Ukrainian Selbstverwaltung, though after his death in 1945 his son Danylo did agree to assume a ceremonial position. The role of liasing between the German military and the local Ukrainian militia was taken by Vladimir Katriuk, replacing Richard Yary, who had been purged by the Germans in 1943. Fraudenfeld was replaced as Reichskommissar in 1977 by Theodor Oberlander, an old enemy of Erich Koch, sympathiser of Alfred Rosenberg and advocate of a mild colonial rule over Eastern peoples. In 1981 he was in turn replaced by Helmut Oberlander, relatively young man (aged 47) and a native of Gotenland. Gotenland received Galicia from Poland and parts of the Kursk, Belgorod, Woronezh, Rostow, Krasnodar, Stavropol, Kalmykia and Stalingrad regions from regions from Russia, including virtually all of the former Ukrainian, Don and Kuban Republics. However Transnistria, including Odesa (Odessa), Colomeea (Kolomyia), Cernauti (Chernivtsi), Hotin (Khotyn), Storojinet (Storozhynets), Moghilau (Mohyliv) and Oceacov (Ochakiv), was lost to Romania. Reichskommissariat Kaukasien Established 1943 as Reichskommissarriat Kaukasus. Includes the self-governing homeland of Georgia. Mixed population of Georgians, Armenians, Azeris, Circassians, Chechens, Cossacks and others, including Germans. Reichskommissar: Arno Schickedanz, a close ally and friend of Rosenberg (to 1962), and thereafter Helmuth von Pannwitz. Capital: Steppenstadt (formerly Astrachan). Population: c.15,000,000. The Reichskommissariat includes the self-governing Heimatstaat or Selbstverwaltung of Georgia, and several other non-self-governing Heimatstaaten or Selbstverwaltungen for the various nationalities of the region, including: * Azeri Turkish Homeland: led by Abdurrahman bey Fatalibeyli, and the Azeri Turkish Struggle Committee * Armenian Homeland: led by Garegin Nzhdeh, and the Armenian Aryan Party * Chechen Homeland: led by Khasan Izrailov, and the Chechen Central Committee * Ossetian Iron Homeland: led by Gaito Gazdanov, and the Ossetian Iron Guard Reichskommissariat Waragerland Established 1943 as Reichskommissariat Moskowien, containing the Homeland of the Russian people west of the 'A-A Linie' (a hypothetical line running from the former Astrachan to the former Archangelsk), which divides it from West-Siberien. While West-Siberien is envisioned as the core of a new Russia, Moscowien was created as German settler territory from which Russians would eventually be removed. It retains a mixed population of Germans, Russians and others. The region was renamed Waragerland in honour of the Varangians, the Nordic warriors who founded the first states in what became Russia. Reichskommissar: Siegfried Kasche, an SA veteran and ally of Ante Pavelic of Croatia (to 1973). The Reichskommissariat has its capital at Neustadt (formerly Nischni Nowgorod), while the capital of Russian Self-Administration is Lokot (formerly in the Bryansk Oblast). The location Lokot gives its name to the popular term for the native Selbstverwaltungen or Heimatstaaten under German control. Population: c.8,000,000. Reichskommissariat Turan Established 1945 as Reichskommissariat Turkestan. Includes the self-governing homeland of Tajikistan. Comprised of most of the former Russian Oblasts of Samarkand, Fergana and the Transcaspian Oblast, plus the Khanates of Khiva, Bukhara and Kokand, corresponding roughly to the original Turkistan ASSR. Mixed population of Turks, Tajiks, Russians and others, including Germans. Reichskommissar: Oskar Ritter von Niedermaye (to 1960), Gerhard von Mende (to 1964), Otto Brautigam (to 1970). Capital: Amul. Population: c.7,000,000. Includes the self-governing homeland of Tajikistan. Comprised of most of the former Russian Oblasts of Samarkand, Fergana and the Transcaspian Oblast, plus the Khanates of Khiva, Bukhara and Kokand, corresponding roughly to the original Turkistan ASSR. The Reichskommissar until 1960 was Oskar Ritter von Niedermayer, an academic and adventurer with extensive knowledge of the Muslim and Slavic worlds. From 1960 until 1965, Gerhard von Mende, a Baltic German who had served as 'Lord Protector' to the anti-Soviet nationalist groups of Turkistan and the Caucasus during the war. Below the Reichskommissar is a number General-Commissars and Self-Administrations, run by the Turkistan National Committee, whose members include Weli Kajum Chan and Bajmirza Hait. Reichskommissariat Idel Established 1947 as Reichskommissariat Don-Wolga and Reichskommissariat Ural, merged into a single Reichskommissariat Wolga-Ural, later Idel-Ural and finally renamed Idel. Mixed population of Tatars, Finnic peoples and others, including Germans. Reichskommissar: Dietrich Klagges, a veteran of the nationalist movement (to 1971). Capital: Gartenstadt Kasan. Population: c.9,000,000. Reichskommissariat West-Siberien Established 1948 as Reichkommissariat Siberien. Regarded as the core of a new Russia, allied with the West and expanding to the East. German presence is therefore limited to those with administrative roles: German settlement is virtually zero. Mixed population of Russians, Ukrainians, Cossacks and others, including Germans. Reichskommissar Wilfried Karl Strik-Strikfeldt, a long-standing champion of German-Russian rapproachement (to 1977).' '''Capital: Tobolsk (formerly and de facto Omsk). Population: c.20,000,000. '''Reichskommissariat Nordland' Established 1948 as Reichkommissariat West-Nordland and Reichkommissariat Ost-Nordland. Nordland was created, in part, to cut off Russian-inhabited regions from access to the Arctic Ocean. Extremely thinly populated, Nordland was considered suitable for immediate settlement by Germanic people, especially, because of its climate, by Scandinavians. Mixed population of Germans, Russians and others. Reichskommissar: Erhard Wetzel, a trusted Rosenberg lieutenant and architect of the Generalplan Ost (to 1976). Capital: Erzengelstadt. Population: c.1,000,000. Subdivisions include Reichsgau West-Nordland, Reichsgau Ost-Nordland and Reichsgau Bjarmaland. Reichsgau Wolga Deutschland The former territory of the Volga German Republic. Also known as Ost Deutschland or Neues Deutschland. Gauleiter: Berhard Klassen (from 1962). Capital: Kosakenstadt. Population: c.2,000,000. Protectorates of Bohemia and Moravia The bulk of the former Czechoslovakia, administered as a single protectorate from 1939 to 1948 and subsequently as two separate territories. Under the control of a Protector and a pair of state-presidents. Mixed population of Germans, Moravians and Czechs. Reichsprotektor: Arthur Seyss-Inquart, architect of the Austrian Anschluss and considered by many to be the true heir to the Fuehrer (to 1962). Capital: Iglau. Population: c.6,000,000. Protectorate of Georgia The Georgische Selbstverwaltung (Georgian Self-Administration) within the Caucasian Reichskommissariat, achieved 'home-rule' in 1966 and 'independence under the German Reich' in 1976. Populated mainly by Georgians, including several subsidary tribes, plus non-Georgian minorities and some Germans. Reichsresidentur, later Reichsprotektor: Karl Franz von Preussen, son of Prince Joachim von Preussen, son of Kaiser Wilhelm II and former German pretender to the Georgian throne (to 1975). The agricultural expert Herbert Backe, an ethnic German native of Georgia, briefly served as Reichsprotektor after the Prince's death. State-Leader (Batoni): Irakli III Bagration-Mukhraneli, native pretender to the Georgian throne (to 1977), Giorgi XIII Bagration-Mukhraneli (from 1977). Capital: Tiflis. Population: c.2,000,000. Protectorate of Tajikistan The Tadschikische Iranoarische Selbstverwaltung (Tajik Irano-Aryan Self-Administration) within the Turanian Reichskommissariat, achieved 'home-rule' in 1976 followed by 'independence under the German Reich' in 1981. Greater in extent than the Soviet Socialist Republic of the same name, the Tajik Protectorate encompasses the cities of Bukhara, Dushanbe and Samarkand. The position of Reichsresidentur was held by Fritz Grobba (1957-1966), an aging champion of the southern policy of undermining the British Empire and Soviet Russia through the encouragement of Arab and Muslim rebellions. He was replaced as Reichsresidentur (and later Reichsprotektor) by Bruno Beger, a veteran of the Ahnenerbe Institute. The position of Native State-Leader was granted (in 1981) to Amir Burhanuddin Rabbani, the young leader of the Aryan Revival Society. Capital: Bukhara (formerly Dushanbe and Samarkand). Population: c.15,000,000. Government-General of Poland The rump of the former Poland (known as Restpolen or the Reststaat) established 1939. The Western part of Poland was immediately organised into two new Reichsgaue, Danzig-West Prussia and Wartheland with smaller areas attached to the neighbouring gaue of Upper Silesia and East Prussia. A small amount of territory was also handed to Slovakia. Central Poland became known as the Generalgouvernment, into which were crowded Poles from the West in order to serve as a pool of labour for German industry. This was not to form the basis of a puppet state, and no significant local collaboration was sort. The Generalgouvernment was divided into four districts: Krakau, Radom, Lublin and Warschau. The Eastern Part of Poland was under Soviet rule between 1939 and 1941. After the invasion of Russia, Eastern Poland was attached to the Generalgouvernment as Galicia District, to the Reichskommissariat Ukraine or Ostland, and to the separate Belostok District. In 1944 Galicia was attached to the Reichskommissariat Ukraine/Gotenland, with small concessions to Hungary (Stanislaus) and Romania (Colomeea). Warschau was partitioned between Radom, Deutschtumsdistrikt Lublin, East Prussia and Belostok District. Belostok, minus Hrodna, was fully incorporated into the Reich as the new Reichsgau Memel-Narew, with Waukawysk (later Schwedischeberg) as its capital. 1944 also saw Albert Forster, Gauleiter of Danzig-West Prussia, take over as Governer General of the Generalgouvernment. Forster had managed to almost Germanise his gau in less than five years and it was hoped he could do the same to the Generalgouvernment in less than twenty. Forster had achieved remarkable successes by recruiting 'former Poles' into the Germanic race. These were ethnically Germanic citizens of the former Polish state reclaimed for the Reich. Forster began with the Kashubian people in his gau. Fritz Bracht, Gauleiter of Upper Silesia, had adopted a similar policy toward the Wasserpolen of his gau. Upon taking control of the Generalgouvernment this policy was extended to include the Gorals of Southern Poland and the Masurians of North Central Poland. Through extensive Germanisation, along with the migration of Poles eastward (to Siberia) or overseas (Brazil, Australia, the Dominican Republic and the Italian colonies especially welcomed Poles wishing to settle outside of Europe), by 1961 the Generalgouvernment was considered ready for full integration into the Reich. The title of Generalgouvernment was abolished and the region became known officially as Vandalenland. In 1965 it was further partitioned into two new Reichsgaue * Beskidengau/Reichsgau Beskidenland: the southern part of the former Poland, long under Germanic rule (as part of the Austrian Empire) and with a large population suitable for Germanisation. Home to the Polonised Germanic population of the Goralenvolk, represented by the Goralenfuehrer and Gauleiter, Wenzel Krzeptowski. The position of Gauleiter was subsequently held successively by Wenzel's cousins, Stefan and Anders Krzeptowski, and by Heinrich Szatkowski. Capital: Neumarkt (formerly Nowy Targ). * Weichselgau/Reichsgau Weichselland: the northern part of the old Generalgouvernment. Mostly former Russian territory, Weichselland's Germanisation was primarily achieved through colonisation by Germanic settlers from outside the region. In additon to ethnic Germans, there was substantial Dutch settlement, encouraged by the Nederlandsche Oost Comapgnie. The NOC was led by Pieter Schelte Heerema and the brothers Klass Carel Faber and Pieter Johan Faber and enjoyed the support of Heinrich Boere, Governor of Baltenland and Colonial Minister in the Government of National Concentration. Large numbers of Protestant Ulster Scots belonging to the Free Presbyterian Church also settled the region in the late 1950s and 1960s. The mainly Protestant Masurians were also re-Germanised. Erich von dem Bach served as the region's Gauleiter until 1971. Capital: Pflugstadt (formerly Zamosc). The population of Vandalenland, as the region was known immediately prior its abolition, was c.9,000,000. This figure represents a mix of indigenous people and settlers.